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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25323769">what's the name of the game?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikkiRA/pseuds/nikkiRA'>nikkiRA</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Getting Back Together, M/M, background Dorogrid, background ashedue, background mercie/annette, past ashelix, past felannie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:47:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,422</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25323769</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikkiRA/pseuds/nikkiRA</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Felix's daughter is getting married, and he's handling it perfectly fine, no matter what Ingrid and Dimitri might say. But a few days before the wedding Felix walks into his goat house to see three faces he hasn't seen in twenty years -- Ashe Ubert, Annette Dominic, and the man who broke his heart, Sylvain Gautier. He doesn't know what the hell they're all doing here, but he's determined not to let anything -- and especially not Sylvain's perfect smile -- ruin the big day.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>111</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. honey, honey</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>if you saw me post this a couple years ago for captain america and then delete it no you didn't</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ashe is confused, when the invite arrives. He puts it aside, says hello to his cat, and focuses on preparing dinner, hoping that cooking will help settle his mind, and maybe he’ll understand what’s happening when his stomach is full. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But he’s so distracted, remembering that summer twenty years ago, that he overcooks the beef and almost ruins the potatoes. He salvages what he can of his dinner, sitting down at his table and cutting into his overcooked beef with a sigh. Then he picks up the invitation again and studies it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Felix Hugo Fraldarius requests your presence at the marriage of his daughter, Sophie Fraldarius, to Maria Berry on Saturday, August 15, 2020 at 6:00 in the evening. Reception to follow. Please RSVP by May 15 2020. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe stares at the words, flipping the invitation around to read the information about the island the wedding would be taking place on. He sits back and reads it over, again and again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix Fraldarius. Ashe hadn’t thought about him for twenty years. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looks down at his cat, who is rubbing her face against his leg. “What do you think,” he asks. “Should I do it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His cat doesn’t respond, but Ashe thinks that maybe, a vacation isn’t such a bad idea. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Mercie brings the mail in when she gets home from work, dropping anything addressed to Annette on the corner of her desk in front of her, but Annette is so engrossed in grading papers that she doesn’t even notice. It isn’t until a few days later, when Mercie asks her if the insurance renewal had come in, that Annette remembers the pile of mail on her desk, and it’s only then that she sees it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mercedes comes in to find her standing in place, staring in bewilderment at the letter in her hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s that, Annie?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Annette looks up, eyebrows pinched together. “Do you remember, I told you about that summer I went to Greece? After university, but before teacher’s college? And I met that guy and ended up… you know?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mercedes nods. “Your first and only one night stand,” Mercedes says teasingly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. Felix. He just invited me to his daughter’s wedding.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mercedes looks confused and holds her hand out for the invitation. Annette hands it over, thinking about Felix Fraldarius and the one summer she had tried to be spontaneous. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm,” Mercie says. “Do you think he’s interested in picking up where you left off?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s really the only reason that makes sense, but it doesn’t sit right with Annette. “I just can’t see Felix doing that. He really wasn’t that kind of guy. And besides, why now? And why at his daughter’s wedding?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mercedes shrugs. “Why don’t we go and find out?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Annette gapes at her. “Mercie! We can’t just go to Greece!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why not? We’ve been invited.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve been invited,” Annette points out. “I can’t just invite my wife to my exes daughter’s wedding!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So then I won’t go to the wedding,” Mercedes says, smiling. “I’ll just go along for the vacation!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mercie… are you being serious?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well why not?” Mercedes asks, but she doesn’t give Annette enough time for her to lay out the itemized list she has in her head of why, exactly, they shouldn't jetset off to Greece to go to the wedding of the daughter of the only man Annette had ever slept with. “You always said the island was beautiful. And it’s in the summer, so you won’t be teaching, and I have enough vacation days saved up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Annette sits down, staring up at her wife. “You’re being serious.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Annie, if you’re uncomfortable we don’t have to go,” Mercedes says, taking one of Annette’s hands and kissing her knuckles. “I just think it could be fun.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fun,” Annette says absentmindedly. She thinks about Felix Fraldarius, and the night they had spent together. He had been nice. A little prickly, maybe, but he had held her gently and smiled when he kissed her. “It could be fun,” she admits. “And I did always want to show you the island.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mercedes grins and pulls Annette up, kissing her softly. “I’ll submit a request for vacation. You send the RSVP.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Annette watches as Mercedes bounds out of the room; she wonders what she should get Sophie Fraldarius for a wedding gift. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain gets the invite, reads it, takes a shot, and then calls Bernadetta.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you remember Felix Fraldarius?” He says in lieu of hello. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Was that… an author?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, Bern!” He says, only slightly hysterically. “The guy I fell in love with when we were supposed to be getting married.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh,” she says, in dawning realization. “That Felix Fraldarius. What about him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He invited me to his daughter’s wedding,” Sylvain says, still clutching the invitation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t even know he had a daughter,” Bernadetta says unhelpfully. Sylvain drops into a chair at his kitchen table and rubs at his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, well, neither did I.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So are you going to go?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bernadetta, do you not remember what happened twenty years ago?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I remember a lot of crying.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It wasn’t a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot </span>
  </em>
  <span>of crying,” Sylvain says defensively. “And he told me he never wanted to see me again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That was a long time ago,” Bernadetta says. “Maybe this is his peace offering.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He didn’t really seem like the type of guy who did peace offerings,” he says, remembering Felix and his sharp edges and the cold glint in his eyes when he told Sylvain to leave. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I mean… you did really only know him for a month,” Bernadetta points out. Sylvain doesn’t answer this, because she’s technically right, but there’s no way he can possibly explain to Bernadetta -- Bernadetta, who never left her house -- that the month he had spent on that island with Felix Fraldarius had been the only time in his entire life when he was happy to be alive. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What should I do, Bern?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bernadetta makes a humming noise. “I think you should go.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain laughs, surprised. “Really? You think I should go on an adventure to Greece? When was the last time you even went out?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s not important! We’re talking about you! The great lost love of your life just made contact with you out of nowhere! Of course you have to go, Sylvain! This is literally the plot of three of my books.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That, actually, is a solid point. Sylvain smooths out the crumpled invitation and traces over the letters with his finger. “I just… God, Bern, his face when he told me to leave. It’s hard to believe he actually wants to see me again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s been twenty years, Sylvain,” she says softly. “People change. You certainly did. And you know as well as I do that you’d never be able to let this go without seeing him again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s right, of course. He’d never be able to let this go. He’d spend the rest of his life wondering. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah. I have to go. Don’t suppose you’ve ever wanted to see Greece, huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bernadetta laughs nervously. “Definitely not. But I’ll watch your dog.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He laughs softly. “Thanks, Bernie,” he says, finger tracing the letters of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Felix Hugo Fraldarius </span>
  </em>
  <span>again and again and again. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>When Ingrid steps shakily off the boat and onto the pier, she is almost immediately tackled. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Auntie Ingrid!” A shrill voice says in her ear. Ingrid stumbles back into the solid mass that is Dimitri, who puts a hand on her back to steady her and stop all three of them from falling into the water. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello, Sophie,” she says, as Sophie rips herself out of Ingrid’s embrace and launches herself at Dimitri. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uncle Dima!” She squeals, wrapping her arms around Dimitri’s neck. Dimitri chuckles warmly and hugs her back before pushing her to arms length and looking at her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Goodness, you’re big,” he says. Sophie rolls her eyes good naturedly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re not really supposed to say that to adult women, Uncle Dima.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My apologies,” Dimitri says sincerely. “I have never been very good at talking to women.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ingrid snorts softly but otherwise ignores this statement. “Where’s your dad?” She asks. Felix wasn’t exactly known for his warm welcomes, but he usually showed up, at least, glaring at them from the pier as if he wasn’t the one to invite them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sophie grimaces. “The wedding is in three days and he’s beyond stressed,” she says. “Where do you think he is?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ingrid sighs and exchanges a look with Dimitri.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“Where do you even get swords on this island?” Ingrid asks, when she and Dimitri enter the gym and see Felix running drills. “Why don’t you just jog like normal people?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix looks up, wiping his forehead. He seems surprised to see Ingrid and Dimitri. “What fucking time is it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello to you, too,” Ingrid says. “It’s not like it’s been five years, or anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where’s Dedue?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s coming tomorrow,” Ingrid says, because Dimitri is still staring at the sword. “He needed an extra day at home.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I ship them to the mainland,” he says, presumably about the swords. Ingrid rolls her eyes, but Dimitri seems entranced by the sword Felix is waving around. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s beautiful,” Dimitri says appreciatively. “May I see it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix’s lip curls. “Absolutely not,” he says firmly. “Not after what happened last time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Felix, we were children,” Dimitri groans. “I know how to control my strength, now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you?” Felix says doubtfully. Ingrid can physically feel herself going grey. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You still haven’t said hello,” she points out. Felix raises an eyebrow. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello,” he says dryly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri chuckles. “Same as ever, Felix. What are the chances of a hug hello?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix doesn’t answer; he just raises his sword. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix takes a shower to make himself look presentable again before he gives them a tour of the island. It’s decorated nicely for the wedding, and Felix had somehow managed to finally chase away that goat who had taken up residence in the kitchen, so it was already a better visit then the last time Ingrid had been here. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ingrid watches Felix out of the corner of her eye as he shows them around. He’s more high strung than usual, snapping at people for the most innocuous of things, like the nice man who was curling ribbon “too loosely” for Felix’s liking, or the poor woman who had stopped for a smoke break only for Felix to lecture her for five straight minutes about reducing the quality of the air before the wedding. Dimitri finally pulls him away when the woman starts to tear up from Felix’s verbal assault, and Ingrid can’t hold her tongue anymore. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are we going to talk about this?” She asks. Felix narrows his eyes at her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Talk about what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your daughter is getting married and leaving and you are clearly not coping with it very well.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are you talking about?” Felix asks in annoyance. “I’m taking it fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Felix,” Dimitri says gently. “You just made a grown woman cry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She shouldn’t have been polluting the air then,” he says sullenly. “I just want the wedding to go smoothly. It’s fine. Children grow up and get married. I’m fine.” Ingrid and Dimitri share another look, and Felix snaps, “Stop sharing looks. I’m fine. I’ll finally have some fucking time to myself. I can practice more. Or, I don’t know, learn a language. It might be helpful to actually learn fucking Greek.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ingrid opens her mouth to argue, because that’s what the two of them did, they argued, but Dimitri steps between them and says, “You know what might be nice? Why don’t we all go get a drink?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine,” Felix says. “I could go for a drink.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Felix is fine. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix is completely fine, and Ingrid and Dimitri can both fuck right off, thank you very much. He is handling Sophie’s marriage very well. It’s going to be the greatest wedding ever and then Sophie was going to leave and he would only really see her at Christmas but it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He was fine. He had gotten over his abandonment issues, honestly. And it wasn’t like he’d never see her again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s not like Glenn. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s fine. Sophie was a smart girl, and he trusted her. Felix’s parenting philosophy had been more or less to just do the exact opposite of what he thought his father would do, and he’s pretty sure it’s working, since Sophie hadn’t travelled across the world to get away from him the way he had when he’d finished school. Unless this was her way of her getting away from him? Was he repeating his father’s mistakes?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He takes another shot. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s fine. He and Sophie have a good relationship. And she promised him that she’d be back. And Maria was a good girl, she’d treat Sophie well. It’s fine. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, you keep saying that,” Ingrid says, in a voice that is a little too judge-y for Felix’s liking. “The more you say it the less inclined I am to believe it. And stop taking shots, Felix, it’s not even five yet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s five-o-clock somewhere,” Dimitri says unhelpfully. Both Ingrid and Felix give him a dirty look. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Children grow up and get married,” Felix says stubbornly. “Presumably. She doesn’t exactly have the best role models with you two.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri does not deny this, but Ingrid scowls. “I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>trying. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Are there any cute single women on this island?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hell if I know,” Felix says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri takes another sip of his raspberry cosmopolitan and then says, “Perhaps that’s the problem.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix glares at him. “What does that mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Perhaps what you truly need now, what with Sophie leaving, is some… companionship.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ingrid snorts. “Are you telling Felix to get laid?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri winces. “Perhaps not in those terms, exactly, but… well, more or less.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix pours himself another shot and ignores the disappointed look Ingrid shoots at him. “That ship has long since sailed,” he says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m just saying,” Dimitri starts, but Felix interrupts him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, don’t,” he says viciously. Ingrid and Dimitri exchange a look that only serves to frustrate Felix more, and he runs a hand through his hair, sighing heavily. “I have… things to do,” he says, hopping off his barstool with only minimal difficulty. “You guys know where everything is.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Felix,” Ingrid starts, but Felix doesn’t want to hear it. He waves a hand over his shoulder at them, wobbling slightly before he is able to steady himself. Thankfully, Ingrid and Dimitri don’t follow him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sun is beating down on him from above, and he pulls the hair tie off his wrist to get his hair out of his face. He mentally runs through his to-do list, but there are so many things that it makes his alcohol laden head hurt. He should have brought a bottle of water with him. Why did he think getting drunk in the middle of the day, three days before his daughters wedding was a good idea? Fuck. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now that he’s thinking about it, he’s pretty sure there’s water in the goat house. He changes direction and heads that way, making sure to give the bar a wide berth so Ingrid and Dimitri don’t see him again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s not that he’s not happy to see them. They’re his best friends, and when Dedue arrives tomorrow it will be the four of them, just like it used to be. And Dimitri </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>right -- Felix hasn’t had companionship in years, hasn’t had sex in an embarrassingly long time. His best friends all live across the world, he has an R.S.V.P from his father sitting on his desk, and his daughter is leaving. For so long it’s just been the two of them; what is he supposed to do now? Dimitri can talk about </span>
  <em>
    <span>companionship </span>
  </em>
  <span>all he likes, but in three days everyone will be gone, and he will be alone again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The door to the goat house sticks, but before he opens it he stops -- he’s pretty sure he can hear voices. It’s not uncommon; the goat house is a favourite spot for couples, and Felix can’t count the number of times he’s had to get something from the storage only to be faced with a bare ass. He sighs and jiggles the door, throwing it open, ready to bitch out whatever young horny couple is inside, but instead he sees --</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Talking animatedly, hands flying everywhere as he gesticulates excitedly, and Felix can remember laughing as he examined his suitcase, saying </span>
  <em>
    <span>you have so many books, you barely have any room for clothes -- </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ashe Ubert. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And beside him; her hair is longer, no longer in those cute little pigtails she wore, and she is so deep in conversation with Ashe because of course she is, of course they would get along, and Felix can still hear her voice singing in his ear -- Annette Dominic. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Felix doesn’t stare at them for long, because movement on the other side of the room catches his eye, and it feels like every small crack in his heart reopens. He’s lounging on a blow up mattress, hands behind his head, red hair a mess on his head, and Felix remembers what it was like to be twenty and to think that love was easy -- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain Gautier. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe it’s the stress. Maybe it’s the shock. It’s almost definitely the alcohol. Whichever it is, Felix runs to the window, sticks his head out, and throws up. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. does your mother know?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“A very attractive woman is calling me over,” he says, waving back at the hot brunette on the boat. </p>
<p>“Sylvain!” Bernadetta admonishes. “Do not get murdered by a sexy lady in Greece!”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ashe doesn’t think he’s packed enough. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s been obsessing over it the entire plane ride, and now that he’s on the ferry to the island he’s still thinking about it. He was only going to be there for a few days, but he’s wondering if he included enough changes of clothes. And what about his gift? He has no idea what Felix’s daughter needs, or wants. He had ended up getting her just some generic household items -- towels, some nice cutlery, useful things that she’ll need as she embarks on her new life. Unless she isn’t embarking on a new life? Maybe she’s going to be staying with Felix at the hotel, still? In which case she wouldn’t need new cutlery. Oh great, so now they’re going to be drowning in cutlery and towels and -- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A happy giggle cuts through his anxious spiralling, and he looks around to see, a few rows away from him, a cute little redhead, and beside her -- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe gets up in excitement, not even fully realizing what he’s doing until he’s standing in front of the couple. They look up at him, and he sees hesitation in their gazes, unsure what exactly it is he’s doing, and he bends his knees to put him more on eye level with them. “Excuse me,” he says politely. “I don’t mean to be a bother, but -- are you Mercedes von Matritz?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mercedes’ eyes light up. “Oh, yes! I am,” she says with a smile. Ashe grins back at her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It is so nice to meet you! I’m a big fan. The way you weave ghost stories with your dessert recipes is incredible! Sometimes I’m too scared from the stories to finish the dessert.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mercedes giggles again. She exudes warmth and kindness, and so Ashe pushes his luck a bit. “I understand if you don’t want to be bothered, but would you mind signing my book?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course not!” Mercedes says. “I would love to.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe runs back to his bag and rifles through it until he finds the well worn book, and it isn’t until he’s given it to Mercedes that he considers that maybe he should feel embarrassed about the condition. “I’m sorry that it’s so… worn,” he says, but Mercedes shakes her head and smiles at him again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It makes me happy to see that it’s so loved. And you even brought it with you on your vacation!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe blushes. “Even if I don’t have a chance to bake, I like to read the ghost stories,” he says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For the first time, the woman beside Mercedes speaks up. “Mercie always tries her ghost stories out on me. She only puts them in her books if they keep me up all night.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is my wife, Annette. What’s your name?” Mercedes asks politely. Ashe spells it out for her, and she takes a pen out of her purse and signs the first page of her book. Ashe clutches it to his chest posessively. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you so much,” he says. “It’s honestly an honour.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aren’t you nice!” Mercedes says brightly. “Why don’t you bring your bags over and sit with us?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe does, trying not to look </span>
  <em>
    <span>too </span>
  </em>
  <span>eager. The three of them chat for a while, learning a little bit about each other, when Annette asks if he’s ever seen the island before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, but not in… oh, twenty years, I think.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Annette smiles. “I’m the same! I spent some time here about twenty years ago. I’ve always wanted to show it to Mercie, so I’m glad I’ve gotten the opportunity.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe looks out at the water. “Me too. I have fond memories of the island. It’s nice to finally go back.” He turns back to them. “So what’s the special occasion? Anniversary?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, actually,” Annette says with a small laugh. “It’s kind of a long story, but, we’re going for a wedding.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe straightens up in interest. “Really? Me too! Do you know Sophie or Maria?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Neither, actually,” she answers. “That’s the long story. I knew Sophie’s father, but I haven’t seen him in decades.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe’s eyebrows furrow. “You knew Felix?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Er, sort of,” she says, before she connects the dots and cocks her head. “Wait. Do you know Felix?”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain has missed the ferry. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain is an </span>
  <em>
    <span>idiot. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s a sign,” he says. “I’m coming home.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re starting to sound like me,” Bernadetta says. Sylvain is paying out of his ass for the long distance rate. “The only thing it’s a sign of is that you need to start setting more than one alarm. How often does the ferry come?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know, I’m running around like a goddamn chicken with my --” he cuts off. “Actually, Bernie, I got to go.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A very attractive woman is calling me over,” he says, waving back at the hot brunette on the boat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sylvain!” Bernadetta admonishes. “Do not get murdered by a sexy lady in Greece!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain laughs. “Isn’t that the plot of one of your books?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean it!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be fine. I’ll call you later!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hangs up and pockets his phone, running a hand through his hair and putting on his best (Bernie calls it his </span>
  <em>
    <span>slimiest) </span>
  </em>
  <span>smile as he walks over to the boat. A brunette wearing a red bikini top and a wrap-skirt smiles at him, leaning over the rail of the boat and giving Sylvain a </span>
  <em>
    <span>very </span>
  </em>
  <span>nice view. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey handsome,” she says with a wink. Sylvain waves at her. “You look like the type of fella who just missed his ferry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Am I that obvious?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s a face I’ve seen a few times.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh yeah?” He raises an eyebrow. “You sweep in to pick up all of these lost souls?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She leans her chin on her hand. “Only the pretty ones,” she says. Sylvain is about to say something incredibly suave and very cool, but he is interrupted by a head popping up from inside the boat. It’s a man with hair even more orange than Sylvain’s, piled up in a complicated updo on top of his head. He takes one look at the scene and then sighs. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dorothea,” he says in a tired voice, “I told you to stop picking up random people.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Easy for you to say, with a ring on your finger,” she says playfully. “And besides, Ferdie, look how </span>
  <em>
    <span>cute </span>
  </em>
  <span>he is.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ferdie looks at Sylvain and seems unimpressed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He can come with us, but you’re not having sex in my bed again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain gives him a half assed salute. “Don’t worry,” he says to Dorothea. “I’m personally partial to open decks, myself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dorothea chuckles. “I like you. What’s your name?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sylvain,” he says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dorothea,” Dorothea says. “That’s Ferdinand. He technically owns the boat. Come aboard, sailor.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“With pleasure,” he says smoothly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good heavens,” Ferdinand says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain stashes his stuff below deck and then comes back up; Ferdinand orders him about using a bunch of boat lingo Sylvain doesn’t know, but eventually the boat is off, and Sylvain is lounging on a deck with a drink and a beautiful woman next to him. All in all, he’s had worse vacations. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So have you ever been to the island?” Dorothea asks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not in years,” he says, closing his eyes against the sun. “Decades, really. How often do you go?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Never,” she says, taking a sip of her drink. “Ferdie has a seventh cousin thrice removed or some nonsense getting married, and his husband couldn’t get the time off work, so here I am.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re going to the wedding, too?” He asks eagerly. “Good, I’ll know someone.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dorothea raises an eyebrow. “Are you crashing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain raises a hand to his forehead and squints up at the sun. “It’s sort of a long story.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Honey, we’ve got time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So he tells her. About his arranged marriage to Bernadetta, his one last hurrah trip to Greece. He tells her about finding the island, about the old abandoned building he’d stumbled across only to find it not quite abandoned after all. He tells her about the month he had spent there, wrapped around Felix Fraldarius like they were one soul, and how for the first time he started looking forward to waking up the next day. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know we didn’t know each other,” he says softly. “Not really. And it’s dumb to feel like that after a month, but I was young --”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think it’s dumb,” Dorothea says. “I don’t necessarily believe in love at first sight, but I do believe that there are some people who you just… connect with. All your ends fit together like a puzzle piece. Sometimes your souls just match. I don’t think it’s dumb.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain closes his eyes. So many details of that summer have faded away, but the one thing he’ll never forget is the way Felix had looked at him that day it all fell apart, the hurt and burning anger in his eyes that told Sylvain he was just as much a waste of space as everyone always said he was. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So what happened?” Dorothea presses gently. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He found out,” Sylvain says. “My own fault. I had a picture of me and Bernie… we were friends, you know. But I had my arms around her -- it looked like a couple picture. He didn’t accuse me at first, just asked. But I couldn’t lie to him. I tried to explain that it was arranged, that I didn’t love her that way, but he said it didn’t matter, that I was getting married nonetheless. And he told me to leave, and it didn’t matter that I begged or cried or apologized. It didn’t matter that I -- it didn’t matter. So I left. And then twenty years later I get an invitation to his fucking daughters wedding and I don’t even know what that means or why but I… I had to come to find out.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dorothea thinks about this for a moment, and then she finally speaks. “So what happened when you got home? Did you marry Bernadetta?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He laughs slightly. “No. I went home and told her what happened and that I didn’t want to get married. She said thank God.” He smiles a bit, mood slightly lifted at the thought of his best friend. “Our fathers were pissed, but there was nothing they could do about it, not really. My dumbass brother inherited my father’s company, and I took my inheritance and ran. Started a publishing house, helped Bernadetta publish her books.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hang on, hang on,” Dorothea says, sitting up suddenly. “Do you mean Bernadetta von Varley? The romance author?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain nods. “Do you know her?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dorothea leans over to her beach bag and rustles around in it, coming back up with a book that she pushes into Sylvain’s hands. “She’s my favourite author. I inhale her books.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain picks up the book and taps the spine. “There I am. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Gautier. </span>
  </em>
  <span>That’s me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dorothea shakes her head and smiles. “What a small world. Well, it is very nice to meet you, Sylvain Gautier. And for what it’s worth, if he invited you to the wedding, it probably means he wants to see you again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain looks out at the water, watches the sun glint off of it. “I hope you’re right,” is all he says. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Sophie Fraldarius was getting married, and she was </span>
  <em>
    <span>so damn excited about it. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had met Maria a few years ago; her dad’s hotel wasn’t usually very busy, but Maria and her family had stayed there, and Sophie had fallen almost immediately in love. Her dad had thought she was too young to be getting married, but he was a perpetual loner, and Sophie was in </span>
  <em>
    <span>love. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She did feel a little guilty about leaving him, though. Sophie loved her dad more than anything; he wasn’t perfect, but he tried his best, and he always treated her with respect. She didn’t want to leave him, but she also wanted to see more of the world than just this island. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s on her way down to the dock when she comes across a group of people standing around, laden down with luggage. She doesn’t recognize any of them, but Maria’s family has been showing up at all times over the past couple of days, so she goes up to greet them and tell them where to go. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello!” She says brightly. “Are you here for the wedding?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The group turns around, and a man with bright orange hair piled on top of his head steps in front of the group and sticks his hand out. “I am Ferdinand von Aegir,” he says brightly. “Maria is a cousin of mine. This is my friend, Dorothea.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, Maria has mentioned you! I’m sorry your husband couldn’t come. Maria says he’s terrifying.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dorothea laughs. “That’s just what he wants you to think.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maria is up at the hotel,” Sophie says. “She’ll be able to show you to your rooms!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ferdinand gives her a wide smile and a little half bow. “Thank you,” he says, picking up his bag and Dorothea’s and starting to head up the hill. Dorothea turns to another member of the group -- another ginger -- and pinches him lightly on the arm. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know where to find me,” she says, before heading after Ferdinand. Sophie returns to the other four and waits for introductions. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello!” The pretty redheaded girl says. “I’m Annette Dominic, and this is my wife Mercedes!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The name instantly clicks in Sophie’s brain -- just before something else does.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wife?” She says dumbly. Mercedes smiles kindly at her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We only R.S.V.P’d for Annie, so don’t worry about me!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sophie shook off her initial confusion -- she shouldn’t have been surprised that they might have gotten married after twenty years. She hopes they aren’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>married. “No, not at all!” She says, reaching out and grabbing a hold of one of Mercedes’ hands. “I would love for you to be at my wedding!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They hear the pronoun, and all of a sudden the attention zeroes in on her even more. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you… Sophie Fraldarius?” The man in the middle asks, and she nods her head, slightly perturbed by the way they were all looking at her. “Oh! Congratulations. I’m Ashe Ubert, by the way.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Another name clicks into place. Sophie turns to the last man, the redhead, and he grins at her as he sticks out his hand. “Sylvain Gautier. Is your dad around?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sophie just kind of blinks at them, until Ashe says, in a concerned voice, “Miss?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh… come with me!” She says, rallying back and leading them at a quick pace up the hill. She hears them exchange brief words with each other before they follow as she leads them to the goat house. Her dad never went into the goat house -- it was mostly a storage area for their storage area by now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The rest of them arrive shortly on her heels, although Sylvain is panting a little harder than the others. “God, this island is really putting into perspective how out of shape I am,” he says breathlessly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Annette says, “Is Felix meeting us here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Sophie says, “Umm…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing good ever starts with um. I always tell my students that,” Annette says. Sophie wants to ask her if she’s a teacher, but she knows that would just be deflecting. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My dad, uh, doesn’t actually know you’re here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They all stare at her in disbelief. Sylvain drops down onto a crate and buries his face in his hands. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, but what do you mean?” Mercedes asks, since she seems to be the only one who can speak. Sophie shifts from foot to foot. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I kind of invited you. He… doesn’t know I did.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So Felix has no idea we’re even here?” Ashe says in disbelief. Sophie nods. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry to mislead you! It’s just… I’m getting married, and leaving, and he’s going to be alone, and he’s always talking about the good old days with you guys!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain looks up at that. “That definitely doesn’t sound like Felix.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Damn. She forgot they all knew her dad, which means she couldn’t straight out lie. It may have been twenty years, but it was hard to ever imagine a Felix who spoke fondly of his past flings, to his daughter no less. Felix didn't talk about anything. Sophie had only found out about Glenn when she was twelve, because Dimitri had let it slip. Her father had yelled at him for it, and when Sophie tried to ask he gave her such a fierce glare that she had started to cry. Felix never really knew how to react to people when they cried, so he had just awkwardly hugged her and patted her on the head and said he’d tell her later. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he had. It’s the only time she’s ever seen her father cry. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, maybe not, but I’m still leaving! He’s going to be here alone, and it scares me! So I thought I would take a chance and invite you all, and you </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>came, so clearly there’s something there! Er, except for you,” she adds to Annette and Mercedes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How did you even find out about us?” Sylvain asks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Insider secret,” she says, not willing to sell out her source. Sylvain shakes his head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sophie, you don’t understand. Felix said he never wanted to see me again, among… other things. I can’t be here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’ll be fine!” She says, more confidently than she feels. Felix, admittedly, could hold a grudge like no other. “It’s been twenty years! He’s mellowed out with age.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All three of them look like they very much doubt that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Look,” she says seriously. “I love my dad. But it’s impossible to talk to him about this! You said he never wanted to see you again -- then why did you come back?” She asks Sylvain, who blinks at her before he looks away. “Please, just stay. Just for my wedding. You dd all R.S.V.P. It will throw off the numbers if you leave.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mercedes giggles at that, and Annette exchanges a look with her wife before she nods. “Okay. I did always want to show Mercie the island.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, okay,” Ashe says. “Even if it’s a surprise, it’ll be nice to see Felix again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She turns to Sylvain. “What about you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s chewing on the knuckle of his pointer finger, eyes staring off into space. She wonders what he’s thinking about. Eventually he sighs and turns to her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll see Felix. But if he still feels the way he did back then, I’m going home.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That sounds fair, so Sophie nods. “Thank you all so much! Um… could you guys stay here for a bit? I need to sort out room arrangements. I wasn’t expecting you all at once.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They all nod, and Sophie grins. Maybe her plan was going to work after all. She waves at them as she leaves the goat house, leaving four very confused people behind her.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. mamma mia</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Aren’t those your exes from the slutty summer?”</p>
<p>“Don’t fucking call it that,” he says. “But yes, they are.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Felix is done, he pulls his head back inside and sees Ashe holding out some kind of cloth, which he takes gratefully to wipe his mouth. Annette is hovering in the background, wringing her hands and looking stressed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you alright? Are you sick? Oh, and Mercie just went to explore! Do you need anything?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I --” Was this happening? Was this really happening? Maybe it’s just a drunken hallucination. “I’m fine,” he says. “I just, uh. Drank a bit too much.” Yes, he’s aware that it’s a little too early to be using that as an excuse without looking like an alcoholic, but his daughter was getting married, and now all his exes are in the same room, so he doesn’t care. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you sure?” Annette says. “I can go and try to find Mercedes, she’s a nurse, she --”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine, Annette, honestly,” he says. And then, “Who’s Mercedes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Annette turns a frankly adorable shade of red. “Oh! Well, uh, she’s my wife, actually.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looks absurdly nervous, as if Felix is going to be… what, jealous? That a girl he slept with twenty years ago is married. He tries to give her a reassuring smile, but he’s never really been good at that, so instead he says, “That’s… cool,” because he’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>goddamn idiot </span>
  </em>
  <span>who doesn’t  know how to talk to people. “Congratulations, Annette,” he adds, trying to sound adequately happy -- because he is happy for her -- and he thinks it might work, because she smiles back, slightly less tense. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix looks around, at Ashe, who has stepped back and is standing with his hands in his pockets, and then finally at Sylvain, who is still on the blow-up mattress in the corner, face an unreadable mask. Felix feels his stomach lurch again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why are you all </span>
  <em>
    <span>here?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>He says, perhaps a little harshly, judging from the way they all rear back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m on… a world culinary tour,” Ashe says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, I wanted to show Mercedes the island,” Annette says. Felix can’t find anything wrong with these reasons, other than the fact that they all apparently decided this at </span>
  <em>
    <span>the same fucking time. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He turns to Sylvain; he looks obnoxiously good, still. He’s not quite as toned as he used to be, a little bigger than the last time Felix had seen him, but his eyes are still mirthful, crows feet at the corners of his eyes and laugh lines around his mouth, evidence of a life lived well. Once upon a time Felix had thought he’d be a part of that life, back when he was twenty and thought he knew everything. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Perhaps the real reason he doesn’t want Sophie to get married so young is because his heart never really recovered after Sylvain left. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And you?” He asks, venom in his voice, ignoring the way Sylvain lounges like he doesn’t have a care in the world. He smiles, and it’s just as bright and obnoxious as it always was. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And fake. Felix knows what Sylvain’s real smile looks like, knows that it’s smaller, more private. He only saw it when they were in bed together, when Felix was trying to memorize his body, when they would talk about the future together. Sylvain wears </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>smile like armour, too wide and bright and blinding so that no one looks at him for long enough to see that it’s a facade. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe I just wanted to see you again,” he says with a wink, just as flirtatious as he always was, and God, if Felix had one of his swords right now, he’d run him through with it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Great,” he says flatly. “You can go home then.” And then he turns back to Ashe and Annette, who are exchanging confused looks, and he says, “Where are you two staying?” It comes out a little harsher than he had wanted, still riled up from Sylvain, and he feels a pang of guilt when Annette looks at him with wide eyes and Ashe takes half a step back. Felix sighs, rubbing at his eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry,” he says, turning his back fully on Sylvain. “Where are you two staying? I have a couple rooms free at the hotel. We’re almost booked full, because my daughter is getting married, but I should be able to get one for you,” he nods at Ashe, “And for you and your wife,” he says to Annette. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have a daughter?” Ashe says, and behind him Sylvain starts to cough. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” Felix says. “She’s adopted. It’s a long story.” It’s not, really -- Sophie was an orphan, and Felix had met her in town when she was five and staying with one of the ladies who worked at the post office where he shipped all his swords. But he’s not going to stand here and recount it all to them, especially considering he wants to get out of this stuffy room with all his past mistakes. “Why are you all even in the goat house?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A woman brought us here,” Ashe says, rather unhelpfully. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She spoke Greek,” Sylvain says. “Not entirely sure what she was saying.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix is beginning to feel the start of a very bad tension headache. He’s really regretting all the shots he had taken. “Okay, well, you can’t stay here. Grab your luggage and come with me,” he says to Ashe and Annette, and then he turns to Sylvain. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t have any more space,” he says flatly. “You’ll have to figure something else out, but you can’t stay here, and I don’t want you doing anything that will ruin the wedding.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Felix,” Sylvain says, and he almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>flinches, </span>
  </em>
  <span>because his voice is soft and intimate, and for a moment it’s just them in the room, and Felix can still remember the way they had laid beneath the stars when Sylvain had said </span>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t think I’ve ever loved anyone before, but I think maybe I love you. Is that weird? </span>
  </em>
  <span>“I would never do anything to ruin your daughter’s wedding.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Right, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Felix thinks bitterly. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I guess ruining her father’s life was enough. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He turns away, gestures at Ashe and Annette to follow him, and then leaves without another word to Sylvain.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>He gets Ashe and Annette set up in their rooms, and ends up meeting Mercedes too, a very warm woman who, he has a funny feeling, is the exact type of person who can get you to spill your entire life’s story while sobbing into her chest, so Felix makes a note to stay away from her. He is happy for Annette, though; he sees the way she looks at Mercedes, and she had certainly never looked at him like that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He runs into Sophie, too, and he tells her to stay away from the goat house, because he doesn’t want her within ten feet of Sylvain. She looks sort of like a deer caught in the headlights, but she assures him he’s fine, it’s just the wedding stress, and then she bounds off before he could even introduce her to Ashe and Annette (that might have been a blessing in disguise, though, since he wasn’t entirely sure how he was going to explain how he knew them). </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he’s got them set up in their rooms, he finds Ingrid and Dimitri -- still sitting at the bar, as if they were on </span>
  <em>
    <span>vacation -- </span>
  </em>
  <span>grabs them by the arms, drags them up to his bedroom, shuts the door, and then grabs a pillow to scream into. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um… Felix?” Ingrid asks. Felix throws the pillow away and lies down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and shoving his feet under Dimitri’s thighs when he sits down at the end of the bed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Annette Dominic,” he says dully. “Ashe Ubert. Sylvain fucking Gautier.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri doesn’t say anything, but Ingrid says, “Aren’t those your exes from the slutty summer?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t fucking call it that,” he says. “But yes, they are.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay. What about them?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re all </span>
  <em>
    <span>here,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he hisses. Silence meets his words. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean they’re all here?” Dimitri finally says. Felix sits up, giving Ingrid room to come and sit beside him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean they’re all here. On this island. Three days before my daughter gets married.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re all here on the island?” Ingrid asks, because apparently Felix has parrots for friends. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes, </span>
  </em>
  <span>fuck, they’re all fucking here, except Annette has a wife now and Ashe is doing some world culinary tour and Sylvain probably just wants to ruin my life again, I guess.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you start over?” Ingrid asks, and Felix does, telling them about what he had found in the goat house and what they had all said and how he had set Annette and Ashe up in rooms at the hotel. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t just kick him off the island, Felix,” Dimitri says, when Felix mentions he hadn’t given Sylvain a room. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Watch me,” he says stubbornly. Ingrid pinches the bridge of her nose. “I’m not going to let him do anything to ruin Sophie’s wedding.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you think he’s going to do, exactly?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” Felix says, annoyed that Ingrid is once again being the voice of reason. “Seduce the priest?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri makes a laughing noise that he immediately tries to cover with a cough. Felix glares at him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, it’s not the end of the world,” Ingrid says. “You’re not worried about Ashe and Annette, right?” Felix shakes his head; he holds no ill will towards them, and he also has no concerns that they’ll do something to fuck up all the work he’s putting into making sure Sophie’s wedding is perfect. He trusted them. “Okay, so then we’ll just deal with Sylvain. Dimitri and I will go talk to him, and figure out his motives, and make it clear that if he does anything he’ll regret it.” Ingrid nudges him lightly. “It’s going to be fine. We won’t let anything happen. I want Sophie’s wedding to be perfect, too. Right, Dimitri?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm?” Ingrid kicks him lightly, and Dimitri straightens up. “Yes! We’ll make sure everything is fine. We’ll talk to him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix buries his face in his hands and takes a few deep breaths that do absolutely nothing to calm his heartbeat. “I can’t believe he’s here,” he says, muffled, and he feels Ingrid’s hand land tentatively on his knee in what was probably supposed to be a comforting gesture, if they weren’t both so bad at it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We will take care of it,” she says. “You just focus on making sure the wedding goes off without a hitch, okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sighs. “Yeah,” he says, knowing with 100% certainty that he is not going to be able to forget that the guy who broke his heart is here again. “Yeah, okay.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Sophie bursts into the goat house just as Sylvain is about to leave, hair frizzy around her head and cheeks red, as if she’d run there. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t leave!” She says, hands on her knees and panting. “Just give him a bit more time to --”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain stops her. “Don’t worry,” he says. “And please sit down and catch your breath. I’m not going home yet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sophie sits on the mattress and takes a few deep breaths. “You’re not? But my dad…” She doesn’t finish that sentence, probably because she’s fully aware that whatever Felix had said to him, it hadn’t been pleasant. Sylvain knows he had said he’d leave if Felix was still that hostile, but something about seeing him -- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had felt like a lightning bolt to his heart, felt like he was coming alive for the first time in twenty years. And even if Felix still doesn’t want anything to do with him, Sylvain is at least hoping he can talk to him, just for a few minutes, just to tell him about Bernie. Just to let him know that Sylvain had never meant to hurt him, that he hadn’t been some summer fling before he settled down. He wants Felix to understand that Sylvain had </span>
  <em>
    <span>loved </span>
  </em>
  <span>him in his own broken way, and if Felix still wants him to leave after that then he will. But he needs him to know. Needs him to know that every relationship Sylvain had had over the years had failed because they hadn’t been able to live up to some grumpy asshole he’d known for a month. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I want to talk to him at least once before I leave,” Sylvain says. “But he’s going to have to cool down, and I can’t stay here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can try and find someplace for you to stay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” he says. “I have a plan. Don’t worry about me, you’re getting married! You’ve probably got a million other things to do. I can take care of myself, been doing it for years.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She cocks her head as she studies him. He knows they’re not blood related, but he can see so much of Felix in her, in the way she speaks and her mannerisms and the way she looks at him as if she can see right through to his heart. It’s unnerving. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then she says, “Do you still love him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he doesn’t think it’s worth it to lie, so he just says, “I don’t think I ever stopped.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He manages to convince Sophie that he’ll be fine, and eventually she leaves after he promises her again that he’s not going to leave. It’s sweet how worried she is about her dad. Sylvain is glad Felix has someone like this in his life. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After Sophie has left he takes his luggage and heads down to Ferdinand’s boat. Sure enough, Dorothea is exactly where she said she’d be, suntanning on the deck. She opens her eyes when Sylvain stands over her, blocking her sun, and when she sees Sylvain she says, “Finally. I was wondering what was taking so long.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain says, “Do you think Ferdinand would let me sleep on his boat?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, no,” Dorothea says. “Did it not go well?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So he tells her; about how Sophie had been the one to invite him, about how Felix had reacted, about how Felix didn’t even want him at the hotel. Dorothea is a good listener, and Sylvain almost cries (</span>
  <em>
    <span>almost. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He’s not at that level yet). When he’s done Dorothea sits up properly and rests her head on his shoulder, and it’s easy to forget that he had only met her today. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sure I can convince Ferdie to let you sleep here,” she says. “He might put up a fuss, but he can’t say no to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure you want to face him again?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Sylvain says, without even thinking about it. “I came all this way. I can’t leave again, not without talking to him. Not without trying to make him see. And if he still tells me to fuck off, at least I’ll know I tried.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay,” Dorothea says. “Do you want me to sleep here with you? Keep you company?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine,” Sylvain says with a laugh. “Enjoy the comforts of the hotel.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, thank God,” she says. “I hate sleeping on boats.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain laughs again. “What would you have done if I said yes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was going to cross that bridge when I got to it,” she says primly, before standing up and offering him a hand. “Now come on. Let’s go swimming.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dorothea, I really don’t feel like --”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sylvain,” she says sternly. “You did not come all the way to Greece just to mope. There’s a whole ocean out there waiting for us. Come on. You might as well get some joy out of this trip.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stands up. “You know, if you wanted me to take my shirt off so badly you could have just asked.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She laughs again, and even though he kind of gets the feeling she’s laughing at him, it feels good natured. “Nice try, but I’ve decided to swear off men.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When did that happen?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“About an hour ago,” Dorothea says, twisting her hair up into a bun on her head. “When I saw the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen absolutely demolishing a plate of chicken.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain strips off his shirt, opening up one of his suitcases to find a bathing suit. He looks at Dorothea, who raises an eyebrow at him and gives him a </span>
  <em>
    <span>the floor is yours </span>
  </em>
  <span>kind of gesture, so he strips his shorts off right there on the deck and puts on his bathing suit. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm,” Dorothea says. “I think I made the right decision, swearing off men.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey!” Sylvain says, but Dorothea just laughs and jumps into the water. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t know why, but it feels like something is starting. He’s here on this island again, twenty years after he’d ruined the best thing he’d ever had, and even if Felix had told him to fuck off he hadn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>stabbed </span>
  </em>
  <span>him or anything, which was a good sign. If this was one of Bernadetta’s books, he would be right where he was supposed to be, and all he would have to do would be to tell the truth and things would work out. And even if things </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>work out, even if real life didn’t turn out like the books… well, he owed Felix the truth anyway. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain grins and jumps into the water after Dorothea. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>The goat house is empty when Ingrid and Dimitri arrive. Ingrid swears. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Great, now he’s loose on the island somewhere and we have no idea where he is.” She knows she’s talking about him like some kind of rabid dog, but to be fair, that’s how Felix talked about him, so she doesn’t really have anything else to go on. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looks over at Dimitri, hoping he’d have some ideas on what to do next, but to her surprise he is staring at the empty goat house as if he’s seen a ghost, and his face is very, very pale. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dimitri?” She asks, and he turns to her, eyes wide and slightly panicked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ingrid,” he says, and his voice seems loud in the quiet of the empty goat house, “I think I might have done something very bad.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. chiquitita</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dimitri looks between Dedue and Ingrid with a small smile on his face. “Seems kind of like high school again, doesn’t it?”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>sorry for this delay i was doing dmlx bingo and also i just suck at writing lmao</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>January 3, 2020</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>From: </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>sophiefraldarius@gmail.com</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>To: </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>dimitriblaiddyd@blaiddydinc.com</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Hi Uncle Dima! Just got your New Years card, thank you so much! I can’t wait to see you all this year, sometimes I think I’m more excited about having all of my family together again than I am about actually being married. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I do have a small request, though, and I really don’t want to put you in a bad position, but I have a few questions and I really, really don’t want my dad to find out. Do you think you’d be willing to help me? I understand if you don’t want to keep secrets, but you know how hard it is to find out ANYTHING about Dad’s life.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Thank you!!!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Love, Sophie</span>
  </em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Two days until wedding</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dedue arrives the next morning into chaos. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s something he’s gotten used to, over the years. He isn’t sure what it is about them, because they are all perfectly respectable adults individually, but for some reason putting Felix, Dimitri, and Ingrid together always ended up in chaos. There had been the time they’d drank almost a full bottle of soured wine because they “didn’t know it wasn’t supposed to taste like that.” There was the time Ingrid and Felix had given each other progressively more ridiculous dares in an attempt to one up the other; it ended with a sprained ankle and a half shaven head. Then there was the time they had all ended up in detention because Dimitri had accidentally broken the doorknob off the door to their classroom, and the teacher had taken a look at the four of them, Felix and Ingrid stifling laughs while Dedue tried to help him put it back, and hadn’t believed that it had been an accident. The problem with them is that Felix and Ingrid have a competitive streak with each other that almost has a body count, and Dimitri, at least when he was younger, was easily swayed into doing things by his friends. They have all mellowed out a bit with age, of course, but put them all together and… well, things were bound to happen. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri and Ingrid are waiting for him on the dock when the ferry gets in, and he can tell immediately by the look on Dimitri’s face that something is wrong. He sighs; he isn’t even fully off the boat yet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is it?” He asks calmly as he walks up to them, forgoing a greeting entirely. “Has Felix run away?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ingrid and Dimitri look between them as if forgetting Felix wasn’t there. “Oh, no, but he is, uh. Well, there’s a bit of a situation,” Ingrid says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t there always,” Dedue says. Dimitri laughs nervously and rubs Dedue’s back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m glad you are here, Dedue,” he says. Together they start walking up to the hotel, Dedue dragging his suitcase with him, and as soon as they get to the room that he is sharing with Dimitri he says, “Which one of you did it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dimitri,” Ingrid immediately says. Dedue is shocked, and more than a little apprehensive. Dimitri hadn’t often caused trouble when they were young, but when he did it tended to be on a level that Felix and Ingrid could never reach. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri sits down on his bed and says, “Early this year, Sophie emailed me asking me a few questions about Felix. I simply answered them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ingrid makes a noise as if this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>very much </span>
  </em>
  <span>not what happened, but Dedue cuts her off before she can chew Dimitri out. “What was she asking about?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now Dimitri is starting to look uncomfortable. “She wanted to know if… if there had ever been anyone that Felix had been interested in. She was worried about leaving him here by himself. She doesn’t want him to be alone.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So Dimitri decided to tell her all about that summer Felix moved here, including, apparently, their full names and social security number, since they’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>all here now.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dedue blinks a few times. “What do you mean, they’re all here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Apparently Sophie took the information I gave her -- and I only gave her the names, Ingrid -- and, well. Invited them to her wedding.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So they’re… they are all here,” Dedue says flatly. Ingrid and Dimitri both nod, and Dedue sits down on his bed rather abruptly. “Even…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep,” Ingrid says, sitting down next to Dimitri. “Even him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How is Felix handling this? Is he even speaking to you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri winces. “Felix… doesn’t know. About any of it. That Sophie invited them, or that I told Sophie. They all gave him different excuses for why they’re here, but there is no way they all just </span>
  <em>
    <span>happened </span>
  </em>
  <span>to show up at the same time after Sophie specifically emailed me asking about them.” He shakes his head, rubbing at his eyes. “What should I have done? Her heart was in the right place, and God knows Felix would never have told her anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It would have been better not to include their names, I think, but what’s done is done,” Dedue says. “Where is Felix right now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both Ingrid and Dimitri exchange looks. “He got a little drunk last night,” Ingrid says. “I don’t think he’s awake yet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dedue is fairly certain they’re all going to send him to an early grave. One time he had made a joke that they had made his hair turn white, and Dimitri had almost cried -- admittedly Dedue didn’t tell jokes very often, but Dimitri, bless him, had certainly overdone it. “Go wake up Felix,” he tells Dimitri. “I am going to cook him something that will not upset his stomach even more.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going to try and find Sophie,” Ingrid says. “Figure out exactly what’s going on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri looks between Dedue and Ingrid with a small smile on his face. “Seems kind of like high school again, doesn’t it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please do not break anything,” Dedue says calmly. Ingrid smiles into her fist, and they sit like that for a moment, remembering, before Dimitri stands up and they all go their separate ways.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Ashe had slept like a </span>
  <em>
    <span>baby. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Something about the air, he thinks, or maybe just the fact that he was on vacation. Whatever it was, he wakes up early and heads down to the beach, shoving his toes in the sand and looking out at the horizon, remembering the last time he was here. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had been barely nineteen, back then, just done high school. Lonato had wanted him to explore the world a bit before he went back to school, just like Christophe had done, and even though Ashe had objected, Lonato had told him to pick a place in the world and then paid for it. Ashe could live a hundred lifetimes and never pay Lonato back for all he had done, but Lonato always said that Ashe didn’t have to pay him back, that a gift did not come with debt, and that Ashe was just as much his son as Christophe. Ashe had arrived in Greece with a suitcase packed full with books with his clothes shoved in the cracks, and he must have looked as lost and confused as he’d felt, because a boy his age with long hair pulled back at his neck had stopped and asked him where he was going. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t, um… know,” he said with a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously and wondering why he couldn’t have just gone to Florida, or something. “My brother told me I should try and be spontaneous, but I’m really regretting that now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The guy’s eyebrows flew up. “So you just… showed up in Greece without a plan?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Ashe said. “I think I did.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The guy shook his head and sighed, as if Ashe was putting him out somehow. Finally he said, “Come with me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, where?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought you were being spontaneous?” The guy said, and there was a hint of a challenge in his voice, and Ashe was stuck with the sudden realization that he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>beautiful. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Come on, I’m not going to murder you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That sounds like something a murderer would say,” Ashe said, but he found himself following him anyway. “Can you at least tell me your name before you kill me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Felix,” Felix said, and his mouth twitched up into half a smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m Ashe. Do you live here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix shook his head. “No.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So are you on vacation?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You ask a lot of questions,” Felix said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t give a lot of answers,” Ashe shot back. Felix laughed slightly, low and quick, as if he had cut it off, but Ashe was entranced by it. He wanted to hear it again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix led him to a broken down building that had definitely seen better days. Ashe eyed it warily. “Are you absolutely sure you’re not going to murder me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Depends,” Felix said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“On?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d turned around then, walking backwards. “On whether you keep asking me questions,” he said easily. Ashe laughed, and Felix smiled, small and barely there, just like his laugh. Like he was trying to keep it a secret. His eyes were bright and his arms were toned, and Ashe had the thought that maybe Greece wasn’t so bad, actually. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And now he’s back, twenty years later. Felix is much the same, really, too private, too closed off, but it’s a little easier to see the kindness that lay beneath it. Ashe wonders if raising a daughter had helped Felix come out of his shell a bit more, be a little freer with his emotions and his words. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He takes a deep breath of salty air and then turns to head back to the hotel. He hadn’t known what it would be like to see Felix again, but it had been far more like greeting an old friend than seeing an ex. Ashe had enjoyed his time -- both in Greece and in Felix’s bed -- but he wasn’t that same lost kid trying to be spontaneous anymore. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His plan is to go take a shower when he gets back, but as soon as he enters the hotel a heavenly smell greets him and he turns towards the kitchen, instead, hoping that maybe it was Mercedes and he would get a chance to see her in action. But when he gets there it isn’t Mercedes, it’s a man -- a very tall, very attractive man, actually. Ashe momentarily forgets how to form words, and then when he remembers he tries to say them all at once, and he ends up making a noise that, if he had to describe it, sounds kind of like a compressed moose. The man turns around, probably to figure out what the hell kind of weird animal just got into the kitchen, and seems surprised when he instead sees a human man. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello,” he says, in a deep voice that makes Ashe’s chest feel like it’s about to explode. God, Ashe wants to climb him like a tree. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Greece </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>isn’t too bad. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hi,” he says, grateful that his voice doesn’t crack. “I’m Ashe.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dedue,” the man says. Ashe wonders if he knows that he’s the most beautiful man that’s ever walked the earth. “Do you need the kitchen?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, no,” Ashe says. “I just smelled something amazing and wanted to investigate. What are you making?” He inches closer to look past Dedue to the stove.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A hangover cure,” Dedue says. “For Felix.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A hangover cure!” Ashe says excitedly. Since he lived alone, his hangover cures mostly consisted of plain toast. “What’s in it? Do you mind if I stay and watch?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dedue’s eyebrows draw together slightly, and Ashe realizes he’s probably being weird. “Er, I’m sorry,” he says sheepishly. “I get very passionate about food.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dedue shakes his head. “You don’t need to apologize for your passions,” he says. And then he says, “Besides, I understand,” and then he </span>
  <em>
    <span>smiles, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and Ashe’s knees quite literally almost buckle. “Hand me those eggs,” he says, pointing at a bowl, “and I will teach you how to make this. Normally I add more spices, but Felix is, well… I have to adjust the recipe slightly for him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe hands him the eggs, moving even closer. Dedue smells amazing. Ashe wants to bury his head in the man’s chest and never leave. He wants to attach himself to Dedue like a horny koala. He wants to eat this entire meal, because it smells </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He entertains the thought of eating the meal off of Dedue but quickly shuts that thought down before it causes more problems. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How do you know Felix?” He asks, just to give himself something to do with his mouth that isn’t -- well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We have been friends since high school,” Dedue says, voice calm and steady. Ashe nods. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So then… do you know who I am?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s a beat, and then Dedue says, “Yes, he mentioned you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really? What did he say?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He said you brought too many books.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe laughs. “Well, he was right. I actually forgot a bathing suit when I came here for the first time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dedue’s lips curl up in a smile again. “Did you remember this time?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” Ashe says. “I learned from my mistakes.” And then, because he isn’t a teenager anymore and even if Dedue is the most attractive person to have possibly ever been born Ashe is still an </span>
  <em>
    <span>adult, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he says, “Would you like to go swimming later?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dedue stops stirring for half a second; Ashe wouldn’t even have noticed if he hadn’t been hyper fixated on his hands (mostly because he was too afraid to make eye contact). He is gripping the wooden spoon tightly, and Ashe immediately regrets asking, why would he have done that, he’s not the type to just </span>
  <em>
    <span>ask out a man he’d just met, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and one of Felix’s friends, too, what was he </span>
  <em>
    <span>thinking, </span>
  </em>
  <span>why was he still trying to be so -- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Spontaneous. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That sounds nice,” Dedue says, effectively cutting off all of Ashe’s harried thoughts. “We can meet at the dock this afternoon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, okay. Never mind. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Crisis cancelled. “That sounds great!” He says, not bothering to mask his excitement. “What about around two?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dedue nods once before he casts a look over at Ashe that is almost… shy. “Alright,” he says simply. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe grins at him. He’s getting pretty good at this spontaneity thing. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Felix is on his stomach with his face smushed into his pillow, mouth open and drooling when Dimitri lets himself into his room. He opens the blinds to let the sunlight in and then nudges Felix in the shoulder. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Felix,” he says softly, keeping his voice low. “It’s time to wake up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix groans like a dying man. “Says who?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Says the itinerary you sent all of us before we arrived, remember?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix buries his face further into his pillow. “Fuck that,” he says, voice muffled. “Close the blinds.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” Dimitri says kindly. “Your daughter is getting married in two days, Felix. Dedue is making you his hangover cure.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix looks up at this. “Dedue’s here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And he’s making --”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” Dimitri says again. “Come on, Felix.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix does not come on. Felix rolls onto his back and stares up at the ceiling, and then he says, quietly, as if he still doesn’t want to admit to showing emotion, “What am I going to do, Dimitri? What am I supposed to do when she leaves?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri sighs and sits down on the bed beside him. “It will be tough,” he says. “You haven’t been alone in twenty years. It will be hard to adjust to.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“God, you suck at this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But,” Dimitri says firmly, “Maybe this will be a good opportunity for you to do something for yourself. You’ve been putting your daughter first for twenty years -- understandably, of course -- but now with Sophie gone perhaps you can focus on yourself, instead.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you telling me to date again?” Felix says, annoyed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m telling you that holing yourself up in a hotel in Greece might have worked when we were twenty, but you can’t live like that again. Felix,” he says, knowing he’s treading a dangerous line, “Maybe it’s time you came home.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Years ago Felix would have shut down, but now he just closes his eyes. “I don’t want to,” he says. “I like my life here. But…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s a knock on the door, and Dedue walks in with a plate of food that smells heavenly, passing it to Felix. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hi, Dedue,” Felix says miserably, sitting up and taking the plate with a grimace that might have been intended to be a smile. “Thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don't worry. I like cooking,” Dedue says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix starts to eat, small slow bites, and Dimitri thinks about what he’d said. He had never really thought Felix would be a dad, but the past twenty years has proved just how good of a dad he could be. He had known Felix wasn’t going to deal particularly well with Sophie leaving, but something about hearing him be so open and vulnerable in a way he hadn’t been since Glenn died really hit home just how hard it was going to be for him, now. His hotel was decently booming, thanks to the tourism industry, and Dimitri knows Felix has a list of renovations he wants to do when Sophie leaves, but Dimitri knows he’s only doing that so he’ll have something to do. He’s had a handful of one night stand’s over the years, but never anything more serious than that. He’d be alone out here; Dimitri, Ingrid, and Dedue couldn’t realistically visit a lot. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the other hand, he really can’t imagine Felix coming home. Not only would it force him to finally confront Rodrigue, something he has been putting off for years, but something about Felix being out here made sense. It’s hard, now, to separate Felix from this life he has built, and Dimitri understands why he wouldn’t want to leave. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The door opens again and Ingrid enters, shoving at Felix’s feet until he gives in and moves them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You didn’t knock,” he says in annoyance. “I could have been naked.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then I would have turned around,” Ingrid shoots back, and something warm settles into Dimitri’s chest as he watches his three closest friends back together again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix shoves him in the shoulder. “Stop looking at us like that,” he says, “and tell me what the fuck I’m supposed to do about my exes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll try and find Sylvain again and keep an eye on him, but you said the other two are fine,” Ingrid says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They are,” he admits. “But I’d still like to know how all three of them showed up at the same time. They’re not telling me something.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dedue, thankfully, refrains from staring at Dimitri, but it’s a miracle Felix misses the fierce glare Ingrid sends Dimitri’s way. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am meeting with Ashe later today,” Dedue says, keeping a remarkably straight face when all three of them gape at him openly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When did that happen?” Dimitri asks. Dedue hadn’t even been here for that long. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He came to see what I was cooking,” Dedue says, and he sounds a little… </span>
  <em>
    <span>shy? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Dimitri beams. “We’re going swimming,” Dedue continues. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s nice,” Felix says simply. “That just leaves Annette.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri realizes Felix is looking at him and says, “I am not crashing her vacation with her wife!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just pretend you bumped into them by accident,” Felix says stubbornly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t be serious.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am. I have a goddamn wedding to put together, so I need you to do this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri lets it drop, because he doesn’t very well want to admit that he doesn’t need to ask, he already </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows </span>
  </em>
  <span>why they’re all here. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix finishes his breakfast and then says, “Okay, get out, I need to get ready.” Dimitri and Ingrid stand up; Felix tries to pass his plate off to Ingrid and Dimitri has the brief fear that she’s going to smash it over his head, but instead she just flips him off. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The three of them file out. When the door closes behind them, Dimitri says, “I don’t want to hear it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have to go try and find Sylvain again,” Ingrid says. “Someone said they saw a ginger man hanging out on a boat at the dock, so,” she shrugs. “Maybe I’ll get to go swimming.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose I should go and find Annette and her wife,” Dimitri says. “Just to say I did.” He sighs; he really hadn’t planned on spending his time here in the middle of such a mess. “I hope you enjoy your date, Dedue.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not a date,” Dedue says, sounding, to Dimitri’s delight, flustered. “I don’t even know him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s what the date’s for,” Ingrid says. Dedue sighs, but Dimitri can see him holding back a smile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe some good could come of this, after all. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i don't know why i made ashe so horny it just kind of happened that way</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. i wonder (departure)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>From: dimitriblaiddyd@blaiddydinc.com<br/>To: sophiefraldarius@gmail.com</p>
<p>Hi, Sophie. Apologies for emailing like an old man...lol. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>SURPRISE!!! im sorry for the delay, i was like "i can go to school full time and maintain time and energy for writing" and guess what!! i can't </p>
<p>this chapter is shorter than normal because it was originally part of the next one, which will be updated in a few days. i don't know how regular updates will be once school picks up again but i have no plans to abandon it</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>January 7, 2020</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>From: dimitriblaiddyd@blaiddydinc.com</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>To: sophiefraldarius@gmail.com</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Hello, Sophie. Apologies for the lateness of this email, things have gotten slightly hectic here and I have been doing damage control. Feel free to ask your question, although I do reserve the right not to answer it if I feel it infringes upon your father’s privacy too much. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Looking forward to hearing from you,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Uncle Dimitri</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Sent from my iPhone</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>January 7, 2020</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>From: sophiefraldarius@gmail.com</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>To: dimitriblaiddyd@blaiddydinc.com</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>No worries for the delay Uncle Dima, I know you’re busy. You really don’t have to respond to my emails as if they’re important business lol. You email like my dad. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I was just thinking about my wedding, and about how my dad is going to be alone when I leave, and you know……….how do I put this……...you know how my dad can be lol. I tried to broach the subject with him but he immediately shut me down and then he ordered a new sword so I don’t think I'm going to get an answer out of him! </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I just really wanted to know if my dad has ever had what I have with Maria. He’s been alone for as long as I can remember, and I just want to know if there was ever anyone in his life and why it never worked out. I don’t even really know why he ran away to Greece, and he never answers any of my questions. I know some things are secrets, but he’s my </span>
  </em>
  <span>dad, </span>
  <em>
    <span>and I’m more than old enough now and I want to know more about him. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>If you’re not comfortable I totally understand!!!! </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Love, Sophie</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>P.S. I thought I showed you how to turn off your iphone signature??</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>January 9, 2020</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>From: dimitriblaiddyd@blaiddydinc.com</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>To: sophiefraldarius@gmail.com</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Hi, Sophie. Apologies for emailing like an old man...lol. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>If you promise to never tell your dad that I told you, I don’t mind giving you some information. Lol. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I know your dad told you about his brother. That’s pretty much where everything starts. Glenn died when Felix was seventeen, and his death put a severe strain on Felix’s relationship with your grandfather. We all rented out a house during university, and so Felix never saw Rodrigue much. We all thought that eventually they would fix their relationship, that when Felix graduated he would, eventually, take Rodrigue’s place as vice president of my father’s company. That, of course, didn’t happen. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean, you’re not going home?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix shrugged, not looking away from the kung-fu film that was playing on their tiny television. “I mean I’m not going home.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have to go home,” Ingrid said. “What else are you going to do?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix shrugged again. “Travel. See the world.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And what about your father? What about the company? You and Dimitri are supposed to take over the company, remember? It’s what you went to school for.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri couldn’t stop his wince; Ingrid’s voice was confrontational, and Felix never reacted well to people being confrontational. But to his surprise Felix didn’t rise to Ingrid’s bait; he barely even looked away from the television. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not worth it,” was all he said. They waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Dimitri and Dedue exchanged a look, while Ingrid just seemed to pump herself up to yell some more. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri interrupted her before she could. “What about your father?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What about him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s not going to accept this without a fight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix shrugged again, unconcerned. “He doesn’t have a choice. He can’t force me to do anything, and you and I both know I’d be a shit VP. Dedue’s the proper choice, and everyone here knows it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wasn’t wrong; Dimitri had been prepping to take over the company ever since his father died, but Felix had never put any effort into even pretending that he was interested in taking Rodrigue’s place. He was right about Dedue, as well -- the person who was beside Dimitri in everything he did, Dedue was, objectively, the much better choice for a partner. Ingrid shot Dimitri an incredulous look, waiting for him to say something about this, but Dimitri had always known that Felix wasn’t built for a lifetime of business suits and stilted smiles. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where will you go?” He asked, ignoring the noise Ingrid made in response. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix looked at him; his face remained carefully blank, but Dimitri had known him for longer than anyone and he was able to recognize the look of appreciation and relief in his eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” he said. “Anywhere. Everywhere. Anywhere that isn’t my father’s dusty office.” Dimitri heard, just as Ingrid and Dedue likely did, as well, Felix’s unspoken words: </span>
  <em>
    <span>anywhere not haunted by my brother’s ghost. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He was never the same after Glenn died, you know. You would have loved him, Sophie. He was very much like your father. Felix loved him more than anyone in the world, and when Glenn died Felix never quite recovered. Your father didn’t want the life that had been laid out for him -- for both of us, really -- and I don’t think that any of us were really surprised. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Greece, of course, was a surprise. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t be out in the sun for more than ten minutes without burning, and you want to go to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Greece?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ingrid said in disbelief. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll wear a hat,” Felix said flatly. Dedue coughed into his hand, hiding a laugh. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But why </span>
  <em>
    <span>Greece?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why not?” Is all Felix said. Ingrid rolled her eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I just want it known that I hate this plan,” she said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ve mentioned,” Felix said. “Can I go now? I’m going to miss my plane.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ingrid grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. Felix made a face over her shoulder, raising his arms to pat her awkwardly on the back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Be safe,” she said severely. “Don’t get into any fights.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not likely,” Dedue said quietly to Dimitri. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know,” Felix said in annoyance as Ingrid continued to list off things. “Okay, Ingrid, fuck off, you’ve told me all of this before.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ingrid sniffed angrily, wiping at her eyes. “You’d better keep in touch!” She said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah, I know, I will,” Felix said, although Dimitri wasn’t exactly confident about it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix and Dedue nodded at each other, neither of them too big on physicality, but Dimitri dragged his oldest friend into a rib crushing embrace. Felix put up with this for a few seconds before he began shoving rather ineffectually at Dimitri’s shoulders. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, okay,” he said, giving Dimitri a severe look when he saw tears in his eyes. “Seriously?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, shut up,” Dimitri said, hugging him again. Felix huffed in annoyance and patted him on the back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going to miss my plane,” he said. Dimitri knew he wouldn’t -- it wasn’t for a few hours -- but he let go of Felix and stepped back, thankful for the hand Dedue put on his shoulder. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright,” Felix said brusquely. “I’ll see you guys later.” Ingrid sniffed loudly, and Felix gave them all a final look, and then he turned around. He didn’t look back once. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Felix didn’t have much of a plan. He showed up in Greece and ended up squatting in an old, broken down building, long abandoned. Your father is good at fending for himself, and in his letters -- because he did write, surprisingly -- he always seemed to be doing well. Better than that, actually; Felix’s letters had an optimistic quality to them that none of us had ever seen in him. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Now, I’m not sure what exactly happened after that. Felix would never really say. But it was only about a month or so after he left that we got the first letter about Ashe Ubert. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh dear -- there’s quite a bit of yelling, I should go and investigate. I will pick up where I left off whenever I can. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Uncle Dima</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Sent from my iPhone</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. our last summer pt 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>He had a nice smile and beautiful eyes, wearing a tank top that showed off his freckled shoulders. If Felix were being held at gunpoint, he might have called him cute. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*says this chapter will be up in a few days*<br/>*uploads it two weeks later*</p>
<p>y'all should really just expect this from me at this point</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They were on their third rest when Felix finally said something. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you not know there were hills in Greece?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe wiped his forehead and shifted his bag to his other shoulder. “I swear I’m not usually this out of shape,” he said. Felix couldn’t tell if he was blushing, or if his face was just red from the exertion. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He held out his hand. “Give me your bag,” he said. Ashe shook his head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s alright. Just give me a couple minutes --” but Felix reached out and took the bag from his shoulder, staring at it in wonder when he felt how heavy it was. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is </span>
  <em>
    <span>in </span>
  </em>
  <span>here?” He asked. Ashe giggled nervously. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh. Books?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix let out a bark of laughter. “So you came all the way to Greece, and the only plan you had was to read?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“More or less, yeah,” Ashe said lightly. Felix looked at him; he had a nice smile and beautiful eyes, wearing a tank top that showed off his freckled shoulders. If Felix were being held at gunpoint, he might have called him </span>
  <em>
    <span>cute. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well,” he said slowly, “I guess it’s a good thing you met me, then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe grinned back, tongue stuck between his teeth; Felix hoisted his bag onto his shoulder, and they set back off. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He set Ashe up in one of the other abandoned bedrooms, although he has to shove aside a decent amount of broken furniture and other assorted junk to even get to it. Ashe helped a bit, although most of the time Felix caught him just staring at his ass. He didn’t really mind much. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first night Ashe took a look at whatever groceries Felix had managed to get, and then he got the old gas stove working somehow, and he made a dinner that -- even if it looked a little wonky -- tasted amazing. After that he said he wanted to go outside and look at the stars, and even if that sounded like the worst possible thing Felix could think of doing, Ashe’s smile was bright and he grabbed Felix’s arm when he said it, fingers curling around his elbow as he beamed, and for some reason Felix found himself saying yes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was… nice, actually. Really, really nice. Ashe took one of the blankets from the beds and brought it outside, and they lay down with their heads beside each other, feet stretching out in opposite ways. Ashe pointed out constellations, pictures in the stars, and even though Felix had a hard time looking at a cluster of lights and seeing a bear, he liked listening to Ashe’s voice as he told him the stories. And Ashe seemed to know </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>the stories. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why do you know all of this?” Felix asked, before Ashe could get started on another one. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My brother used to read me stories all the time,” Ashe said after a moment. “I was adopted, and he was quite a few years older than me. Christophe always liked this kind of stuff, so I just learned. Am I boring you? I can stop.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re not boring me,” Felix said, a little too quickly. He was happy Ashe was looking up at the stars instead of at his face, so he hopefully wouldn’t be able to see how red Felix definitely was. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay,” Ashe said, and he shifted the slightest bit so their shoulders were touching, heads together. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Ashe was only in Greece for a couple weeks, but they made the best of it. Felix had never really been good at befriending people, and truthfully if he were back home he probably wouldn’t have given Ashe Ubert another thought. They were very different; Ashe was sincere and genuine, one of the few completely kind people Felix had ever met. He loved stories more than anything, and was excellent at telling them, weaving his words together in a way that even Felix, who hadn’t willingly read a book since English class in senior year, was utterly captivated. He liked listening to Ashe talk, and Ashe didn’t seem to desire a response, which was nice, because Felix often didn’t have one. They managed to fall into a good routine -- they both rose early, and Ashe would cook breakfast while Felix went for a jog, and then they would go explore the island. Ashe wanted to do things like look at the stores and pick oranges from trees and go on donkey rides, all things Felix had staunchly been avoiding, but he found himself tagging along, anyway. He was grateful that his friends weren’t here; Dimitri and Dedue would have been annoyingly supportive, and Ingrid would have teased him forever. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t like there was anything to tease him </span>
  <em>
    <span>about, </span>
  </em>
  <span>though. He’d never been the best at relationships, but he was rather adept at one night stands. Ashe never seemed interested in that, though, so Felix contented himself with the knowledge that this was just the easiest, quickest friendship he’d ever made. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Four days before Ashe was set to leave, he barged into Felix’s bedroom and said, “I haven’t been swimming!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix looked at him, thankful that he hadn’t shown up approximately two and a half minutes earlier, and pulled the blanket up higher on his chest. “What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was thinking about what other things I could do on this vacation, and I realized I’ve never actually been swimming! Can you believe we forgot that?” Ashe laughed. “It would have been horrible if I’d gone home without even stepping foot into the ocean.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix could believe they’d forgotten it very easily, as he hadn’t brought it up. It was just that he was young and horny and he hadn’t had sex in a very long time and Ashe, dripping wet and half naked, was really not something he wanted to willingly put himself through. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But -- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright,” he said in defeat, because what was he going to do, say </span>
  <em>
    <span>no? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ashe beamed at him, and Felix found his eyes drawn to his dimples, and he swore internally. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he got downstairs a few minutes later, Ashe was waiting, still fully dressed. Felix felt suddenly very self-conscious about his bare chest and spindly legs. He raised an eyebrow, but Ashe just smiled at him and then turned to go. Felix assumed he just didn’t want to go down to the beach in his bathing suit, which was a stroke of forward thinking genius that he really wished he had thought of. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They didn’t talk much on the way, which was odd, after so many days of Ashe chatting his ear off. He used the silence to reflect on how weird it was to have set up so easily with this absolute stranger; he had written Dimitri about it, but Dimitri had just said that Felix was probably lonely and had wanted a friend, and Felix had been so annoyed at how right he was that he didn’t bother responding. If he had been at home still he’s certain he and Ashe wouldn’t have gotten along like this, but in the heat of the sun and the loneliness of his broken down home and the blisters on his palm from months and months of nothing but jerking off, things are different. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe, he thought, giving people the benefit of the doubt was a good thing, occasionally. Maybe making friends wasn’t the </span>
  <em>
    <span>worst </span>
  </em>
  <span>thing in the world. Maybe admitting you were lonely didn’t make you weak. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He threw the towel down on the sand when they got to a secluded spot, wading into the warm water and then turning around to look at Ashe. He held his hand up to his eyes to block the sun, so he can better see the way Ashe was standing there, chewing on his lip. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You coming?” He called. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe said, “So, funny story. I apparently forgot my bathing suit.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took Felix a few minutes to fully absorb these words, and he had to bite back the urge to be a dick. “Why didn’t you tell me before? We could have gone to buy you one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe shook his head; Felix was about to come storming out of the water when Ashe took his shirt off in one fluid motion, revealing a pale, freckled chest that looked like it would burn in a matter of seconds. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s alright,” Ashe said, hands coming up to his belt. Felix felt his mouth go very dry. “It’s just us, right?” There was nervousness in Ashe’s voice but a sparkle of mischief in his eye. Felix swallowed, willing his eyes not to stare holes into Ashe’s hip bones. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe pulled his shorts and underwear down in one motion, and Felix physically couldn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>look at his dick. His mouth went, somehow, even drier, and he had the brief thought that a man of Ashe’s size had no right to have a dick quite that big. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t get a lot of time to look (probably for the best) because Ashe ran into the water, splashing Felix as he passed. Felix spat ocean water out of his mouth and pushed his hair back, turning to look at Ashe, who was treading water a few feet away, a grin on his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you really forget your bathing suit?” He asked, swimming forward so they were closer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Ashe said lightly. “I think I packed too many books.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You think,” Felix said dryly. Ashe cocked his head at him, sun glinting off his hair; Felix swam closer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe said, “I’m trying to do something spontaneous.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think you’re supposed to tell me,” Felix said. “I think you’re just supposed to do it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They continued to look at each other for a few moments; Ashe’s eyes were an almost absurd shade of green. He took a breath and then dived beneath the surface, and when he resurfaced he was right in front of Felix, water sluicing off of him, looking like some god of the sea. Felix barely had time to see the glint of boldness in his eyes before arms were thrown around his neck and lips were pressed to his. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was hard to kiss while swimming -- they both found that out rather quickly, as Felix tried to wrap his arms around Ashe and they both went under the water. Felix emerged, gasping for air and spitting water out of his mouth, and Ashe did the same, laughing loudly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think I’m very good at being spontaneous,” he said. Felix wipes salt water out of his eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let’s go back up to the house,” he said. Ashe grinned at him before he ducked under the water again, resurfacing closer to the beach. Felix watched with appreciation as he climbed out of the ocean, water droplets trailing down his skin. Felix wanted to lick them off. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They hurried back to the house without speaking much, sand sticking to their feet. Ashe entered the house before him, and when Felix shut the door behind him he turned to see Ashe looking a little like a deer in the headlights. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix said, “You look like the type of person who overthinks things.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe laughed nervously. “Can you tell?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix took a careful step forward. “You leave in four days, Ashe. What could possibly happen?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe considered this. Then he took a step forward, closing the distance between them and kissing Felix with a ferocity he wasn’t expecting. He tasted like salt water. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“C’mon,” Ashe said breathlessly, nodding up the stairs and to the bedrooms. Felix tried not to act </span>
  <em>
    <span>too </span>
  </em>
  <span>excited; he just nodded and grabbed Ashe’s hand. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Four days later, Felix found himself sitting on Ashe’s suitcase to try and keep it shut enough to zip up. It was bulging with books and souvenirs, and Ashe was tugging so hard at the zipper to try and close it that Felix was afraid it was going to break. Eventually Ashe managed to squish everything in, collapsing on the floor and panting. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was really afraid I was going to have to leave something behind,” he said. Felix looked at him lying on the floor and tried to ignore whatever emotion was going on in his chest. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>love </span>
  </em>
  <span>or anything. But it was… nice. It had been really nice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re going to miss the ferry,” Felix said, nudging him with his foot. Ashe sighed but stood up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you going to see me off?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His first instinct was to say no, because that’s always his first instinct against vulnerability. But Ashe was nice, and smart, and a great cook, and a great kisser and </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>good in bed and Felix had enjoyed his time with him and anyway, if this was going to be the last time he ever saw him he might as well say goodbye properly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, sure. Do you want me to carry your suitcase?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe grinned. “Thanks, but I’m okay. This time we’re going downhill.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix snorted, but he let Ashe lug the suitcase downstairs and down towards the dock. On the way he wondered what sort of goodbye was expected from him. Was he supposed to be sad? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Was </span>
  </em>
  <span>he sad? It certainly didn’t feel like when he had said goodbye to Dimitri and the others, but he definitely felt… something. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He helped Ashe put his suitcase on the ferry and then stood back, hands stuffed in his pockets. Maybe he should have stayed up at the farmhouse. What if Ashe expected him to cry, or something? Or what if he expected them to keep in touch or like, start dating? Should they have </span>
  <em>
    <span>talked </span>
  </em>
  <span>about this?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Felix.” Ashe’s voice brought him back out of his head. “Thank you for making this a really good vacation. I’m really glad I met you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was so incredibly genuine. Felix kind of envied him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I had fun,” was his great reply. Ashe grinned, though, and stepped in to give Felix a goodbye kiss that, frankly, had him almost blushing, before stepping onto the ferry. He stood at the railing, suitcase between his legs. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you for everything,” Ashe said with a wave. “Don’t let yourself get too lonely, okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix nodded, hesitantly waving back. The ferry started to head off, but Ashe stayed at his spot on the railing, chin on his hand as he smiled at Felix. Felix figured he’d wait until he was appropriately far enough away and then leave.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But to his surprise, he stayed on the dock until Ashe’s ship disappeared completely beyond the horizon. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The walk back up to the farmhouse seemed longer than usual. He found himself missing Ashe’s inane chatter. He really hadn’t expected to be this affected by him leaving. He had only known the guy for two weeks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t let yourself get too lonely, okay?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe vulnerability wasn’t the </span>
  <em>
    <span>worst </span>
  </em>
  <span>thing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and he sat down at the table and started to write a letter. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Dimitri:</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>If you tell Ingrid I said this I’ll kill you (you can tell Dedue) but… I really miss you guys.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>fun fact that last line used to say "if you tell sylvain and ingrid this i'll kill you" before i remembered the premise of this fucking story</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>twitter @felixfraldaddy</p></blockquote></div></div>
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